GEORGETOWN, Guyana – President Dr. Irfaan Ali says the new ferry service involving Guyana, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago will operate out of Parika, Region Three as he announced that the country has reaped more than 20 million pounds of cassava so far this year in line with its plans to increase food productivity.
President Ali addressing residents in Bonasika Creek on Tuesday (DPI Photo)The company responsible for the new ferry service, Cari Cargo Inc, was incorporated here in March as the Caribbean moves to develop a ferry service that will facilitate the easier movement of goods and people across the region.
The Galleon Passage, a vessel from Trinidad and Tobago will be used to ply the route, at least initially. In February, President Ali said the vessel would set sail in about three months’ time.
“The regional ferry will operate out of Parika so that we can have all of these productions from all of these islands (in the Essequibo River) integrated into the regional market,” said President Ali during a visit to the Bonasika Creek in Region Three on Tuesday.
He said the government is focused on ramping up food production in this community and many others in the region and that the goal is to produce more of the food demanded across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Ali said that this is in keeping with a regional goal of reducing the food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025, adding to achieve this goal, CARICOM countries agreed to grow more food and increase trade among themselves.
Meanwhile, Ali welcomed the increased production of cassava in the region, saying “we introduced a new variety that has moved the yield from 15 tonnes per hectare to 30 tonnes per hectare.
“And we did not only do that, we know when you have increased production, it can affect the price. We have worked to stabilise the price…and processing the cassava into farine. And now, we have the opportunity of taking that farine into the Brazilian market
“It is no longer about producing food. It is how we now translate production into storage, add transportation, create higher value, and access more markets,” Ali added.
